Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index

As part of its mission of educating and inspiring families to make healthy lifestyle choices, Penn State Hershey PRO Wellness Center has developed and tested a body mass index (BMI) screening letter that leads parents to tools and resources for making healthy lifestyle changes for their families.

The most common way to find out whether you’re overweight or obese is to calculate your body mass index, or BMI. BMI is an estimate of body fat, and it’s a good gauge of your risk for obesity-related diseases. The higher your BMI, the higher your risk of developing health problems.

Had a bad day? Extending your normal exercise routine by a few minutes may be the solution, according to Penn State researchers, who found that people's satisfaction with life was higher on days when they exercised more than usual. "We found that people's satisfaction with life was directly impacted by their daily physical activity," said Jaclyn Maher, graduate student in kinesiology. "The findings reinforce the idea that physical activity is a health behavior with important consequences for daily well-being and should be considered when developing national policies to enhance satisfaction with life." The team examined the influence of physical activity on satisfaction with life among emerging adults ages 18 to 25 years because this population's sense of well-being appears to worsen more quickly than at any other time during adulthood.

Men and women who kept their body mass index (BMI) normal-between 22.5 and 25-had the lowest death rate, according to a analysis of 57 prospective studies conducted at Oxford University and published in Lancet [March 18, 2009 online edition]. For every five point increase above 25, the overall mortality rate increased by an average of 30 percent.